Pulitzer Prize winner, literary superstar, and author of summer’s first brainy blockbuster, The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, is in Portland as we speak to read at Powell’s tonight (1005 W Burnside, 7:30 pm). People (including our own Erik Henriksen) are even saying that this one’s better than The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, which is pretty incredible, given the rabid adoration that critics and readers have heaped upon that book. TYPA imagines that the Holocaust never happened, and the world’s Jews settled in Alaska (earning them the nickname “the chosen frozen”). A murder takes place on the depressing tundra, and from there, weary, alcoholic detective Meyer Landsman commences the investigation of his life.

A fast-paced detective novel, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union veers from angst to humor to allegory, its story spreading from the drab mess of Landsman’s hotel room to the righteous rages of the Middle East. Most impressive, though, is Landsman, who’d be a cliché if anyone but Chabon wrote him. The detective walks Sitka’s streets with an unshakeable familiarity with life’s disappointment, which clashes awkwardly with his foolish devotion to his job.

Go tonight, or kick yourself later.

*ooh, the backlash begins!